St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-12-08
MISCELLANY.
WHETHER OR NO.
A Thanksgiving story.
ooneluded from Last Week.

I
Jim looked beside himself with joy,
but he could not express it-that is, in
words. Mother Goose offered him no
appropriate verses, but there were to-
kens of his gratitude found in DR.. Al
lens porch or dangling to the latch of
the kitchen door for the next two
months, varying, as the season pro-
crossed, from bags of selected chest
nuts to shared game, every one labelled
carefully ''for mis- f1Orindy," which
spoke for him energetically.
Daddy" said Florence, as she pour
ed out her fathers tea the night after
her conference with Jim, and filled his
plate with the savOry meat his soul
loved, morsels of stewed pork tender
loin, reeking with rich brown gravy,
and seasoned with an exactness of
taste DelmonicO never surpassed,
"dOn't you think everybody ought to
keep Thanksgiving 7"
"Wy, to be sure; cert'in, cert'ln ;
tits matter of State ordinance, child,
and a custom of our fOrefathers."
"But our fOremOthers had to get the
dinner ~
ayes, yes" allowed the surprised
doctor; "but then, Florry, the men
81 suppose they did," she laughed.
| s'That's what | want to have them do
now. Do you know that those fOrlOrn
creatures out at the poor farm never
have any Thanksgiving dinner like the
rest of us ~
"Probably not-probably not" said
the doctor, whose strength OF speech
lay greatly in repetition. "Uncle Sim
Afford does remarkably well by them
the year round, though; they have
enough to eat and to wear, and he
keeps good fires. He made mighty
low bid for 'em, and he must pare and
shave close to make both ends meet.
| don't suppose he really can afford to
feast 'em once year even-nOt With
out he starved 'em beforehand to make
it up"
''That's what l supposed, daddy.
Nobody could imagine those good old
souls the AlvOrds would be intention
ally unkind, even to the paupers.
know Aunt Polly gets green tea for
Granny Pease, and goes without it her
self because that old thing grumbles so
over her 'narves,' and 'the spine in her
back and bemoans herself about her
better days and the luxuries thereof.
| haven't doubt both of them would
heartily enjoy giving their charges
good dinner, if they could, every day
in the week. But my idea is to go
round in the village and see if can't
get the things for IA good feast together
some things here and others there,
perhaps a little money then, as there's
nobody here but you and me, why, II
YOU will go with me, Dency and | will
Il nd q
turkeys-yOu carve so beautifully and
it will be great honor to them to have
the doctor at the head of the table"
The doctor looked ut Fiorry with
glow in his eye but, NewEDg lander
that he was, he could not speak the
love and admiration that filled his
fatherly heart.
"Go ahead, my girl. l guess you'll
persuade folks if anybody cam" and
thrusting his hand into his pocket, he
withdrew it with a jingle, and from the
mixture of coins his fat fingers fetched
out of that depth he picked ont gold
piece, and snapped it across at FlOrin-
da.
.'There, that'll be my part ont" he
said, us gruffly us if he had contributed
IL box of blue~mass, or turnkey, or II
lancet, IOf the DencllI Oi Gho pdupCio.
Florinda nodded her head at him
with a merry little smile. "Well be-
gun is half done, daddy. You're Il
good old soul when you are good
"And you're saucy little jade"
gr0wled the doctor, getting up from
his satisfactory supper, with IL smile
on his rugged old face that lit it up as
a winter sunbeam Eliminates some
gray rock in the forest.
Florinda never delayed in what she
had to do 1t was now the middle OF
September, and she knew it was best
to secure her supplies before every
thing was engaged for some other mar
ket, so she put small blank book and
Il pencil in her pocket, and sailed out,
looking as trim and bright as the first
bluebird in her deep blue merinO
gown, her pretty little black straw
bonnet cockaded and tied with red
velvet, and her warm cloth jacket with
its gray fur edge, for Dalton is well up
in the world, and its fall breezes come
early and blow hard and cold.
1t is IL great and often painful les
son on the varieties of humanity to go
begging, even when you beg for other
people. am not surprised that the
sOlent, as to create demand for re-
volvers and big dogs. Mere begging
is so often useless that when a man is
really hungry he must take to bully
ing and threats, or else starve. |
know this method is quite improper
and disagreeable, but hunger is not
apt to be punctiliOus, and will help it
self when it can get no satisfaction
otherwise. Florinda began at the viii
lage store. Mr.. Braddock, fussy lit
tie man with manifest wig, objected,
rubbed his hads, smiled
blandly, and remarked on the weather.
curry fine day, Miss FlOrindy-I
vurry fine. Ha ! well, do you think it
is really Conducive now to the moral
and speritooal good of them paupers
to give 'em such dinner us we hard
working folks partake off They
haven't done nothing, as | know of, to
deserve it. 1t seems like as though it
might make 'em sort of uppish and
as you may say. pre-
sumo likely they will be expecting of
it right along every year if you do it |
once"
81 hope SO, and hope they'll get it, |
too" said Florry, with laugh to COW
er up her disgust. "But after all, it is |
only once year, Mr.. Braddock, and l
want your name to head the list. I'll |
take anything out of the store"
She had touched the right cord. To
head list of any sort appealed to the
mans small ambition, and he had some
pots of last years lard that nobody
would buy, and Il heap of sweet pOta
toes in the cellar that Dalton people
had not appreciated, and that threat
ened decay on his hands.
"Well," he said, smirking softly, cit